Typewriting machine



June 12, 1934. B, SMITH 1,962,331

TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed Sept. 29, 1928 Patented June 12, 1934 PATENT OFFICE TYPEWRITIN G MACHINE Jesse A. B. Smith, Stamford, Conn., assignor to Underwood Elliott Fisher Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application September 29, 1928, Serial No. 309,218 3 Claims. (01. 197--'126) This invention relates to the re-registering or realigning of the loose plies or sheets composing a multiple-ply web in a typewriting machine.

The invention is useful in manifolding where the plies are interleaved with carbon-webs. At the severance of each set of forms from the work-web, the carbons are also severed, and the portions of interleaved carbon-strips are thrown away.

In traveling around the platens of typewriting machines and in other ways, the loose plies of the web become disarranged and get out of registry with one another, so that the carbon copies are misprinted, that is, the typed lines fall in the Wrong place, and accuracy and neatness are sacrificed. It has been the practice to realign the plies from time to time by the aid of an expedient which consisted in providing perforations in the plies of the web, each form thereof having its own perforations, and the disheveled plies being realigned by impaling the perforations upon pointed posts, that were provided upon the machine for that purpose. However, this device is not feasible where the manifolding is done by means of continuous'carbon-webs, which have no perforations, and which therefore cannot be transfixed upon the pointed posts, and do not need to be.

In order to effect prompt and satisfactory realignment of two or more work-plies forming multiple-ply webs, the present invention provides a way for practically gathering or realigning the webs by means of their leading edges.

Assuming that one form has been typed and torn oil from the leading end of the web, the typing of the next form proceeds line byline; and upon reaching the bottom of this'newly' typed form, it is perhaps found that the leading edges thereof are out of registry with one another. In practicing the invention, the leading portions are temporarily formed into the shape of a loop, or bulged or bowed out, forward of the work-table at the delivery side of the round platen. Then the leading edges are slipped into a passage or crevice and adjusted against a leading-edge templet. There is suificient spring in the paper to cause said leading edges to conform themselves readily to said templet while they are in the bowed or sprung condition. The leading edges, when in contact with the templet, become squared and gathered or fall into registry with one another. The operator thereupon uses a clip or other means to clamp or hold said gathered leading edges together, and then he releases" the .feed-,

rolls which run on the bottom of the platen; and in consequence the webs which extend from said clip downwardly around and under the platen, being loosened from the feed-rolls, tend to realign themselves or to come into proper registration with one another, or gather at these lower portions.

The operator then pulls up the gathered leading edges of the sheets, together with the templet and its clip, to an upper gage, which mechanically determines the position of the web for typing the next form thereon, or for tearing off the present form, or both. The operation of pulling up the leading portions of the plies of web (which have been bowed) tends to iron them out, so thatthey no longer maintain their former disarrangement, but fall into proper order and registration throughout with respect to one another.

When the leading edges of the web have been carried up by the templet and clip as far as they can go (being arrested by an adjustable stop) the lower end of the typed form stands opposite thetearing-oif knife, the feed-rolls are restored, the leading edges are released from the clip, and the typed form is torn off by means of said knife, thus completing the cycle of operations.

It will thus be seen that this invention provides means for realigning the leading edges of the web so that no considerable slippage will accumulate, and that this is accomplished by the aid of a templet or top-edge-aligner movable up and down at the delivery side of the platen and preferably between two adjustable stops.

With the feed-rolls engaged, the operator may loop or bulge the leading ends of the plies of the web, causing a slack sufiicient to cause all the top edges to gather upon said templet, when the latteris in lowered position. Having the tendency to straighten out, this bulging portion conduces to proper gathering or registration of all the top edges upon said templet. Thereafter the feedroll pressure is released, and the templet, together with the aligned top edges, is pulled upwardly against a settable stop, to position the form relatively to the knife for severing, while simultaneously causing the'lower portions of the plies to gather or resume their proper superposed sidealigned relation as the bulging portion straightens out. Then the feed-roll pressure is restored, the written section is severed from the pack, and a new section advanced for writing.

One feature is in the nature of a slidable clamp to facilitate the gathering operation. The leading edge portions of the bulged form or section are entered into an open clamp to be aligned upon the templet. The clamp may then grip the pack to be pulled up in the manner described.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawing,

Figure 1 is a front view of a platen-carriage of a standard typewriting machine equipped with front collating table and severing knife, the novel slidable templet and clamp being shown in lowered position to rest upon a stop-screw upon the usual gage-bar.

Figure 2 discloses the novel method of gathering the top edges of the web by bulging the same, as shown in dot-and-dash, to be gathered against the templet having the novel clamp.

Figure 3 shows the clamp as holding the aligned top edges and moved to upper finished position upon the gage-bar, for the form to be torn across the severing knife, as shown in dotand-dash.

Figure 4 is an enlarged perspective of the novel templet and clamp, disclosing more plainly constructive details thereof.

The present invention is shown to be incorporated upon a standard Underwood typewriter and provides for a case where it is desired to use a pack of superposed work and carbon webs for continuous billing, that is, in such a manner as to consecutively write sections upon the web and to sever each finished section, including the interleaved carbons, from the pack by usual means as a severing knife.

The typewriter-carriage includes a platen 10, which, by means of a platen-shaft 11, is journaled in a platen-fr ame indicated by the sides 12. Mounted upon the platen-shaft is a usual platenknob 13 and a line-space wheel 14, to feed and line-space a pack 15 including loosely-superposed work-webs 16 and interleaved carbon-webs 17, onto a front collating table 18, the feeding being usually done with the aid of releasable feed-rolls 19. The front collating table 18 is shown to have integral brackets 20 by which it is supported and fastened at 21 upon the side of the platen-frame. Adjustable side gages 22 for the pack are shown to be simply hung in a usual manner upon the collating table so as to keep the loosely-superposed webs laterally in line. The leading end of the pack is advanced across the typing line, and. led onto said table and underneath a severing knife 23, which is shown to be screwed upon the table and extending through cutouts 24 thereof. A written section of the pack may be torn off across the severing knife, as indicated in Figure 3.

Figure 2 shows, exaggerated, the relative slippage between the plies which commonly occurs when a pack is fed around a revoluble platen, each ply creeping ahead of the one underlying. One of the reasons for this phenomenon is found in the fact that an outer sheet feeds around a larger diameter than an under sheet, the difference being due to the thickness of the paper. To correct this and other troubles at end of the writing of each section, there is provided a movable templet and clamp-device 25, which is supported to be slidable up and down upon a trackmember having the form of a gage-bar 26 riveted at 27 upon the front collating table. The templet device includes a body-portion 28 slidable upon the gage-bar and forming the lower jaw of a clamp while the upper jaw is represented by a T-shaped flat portion 29, which, by means of a U-shaped flat spring-portion 30, is resiliently fixed upon the body-portion, the spring-portion being housed within a recess or bend, formed at the tail-end of said body-portion. The clamp jaw stands normally open and may be closed by means of a cam-rnember 31, including a fingerpiece 32, pivoted, by means of screw-bolt 32*, upon struck-up templet portions 33 of the bodyportion. Depression of the finger-piece will grip inserted and gathered top edges of the webs, for the same to be pulled upwardly in a manner and for purposes to be presently explained.

According to a novel method of gathering or realigning the top edges of the webs after a section is written, the templet and clamp-device is first lowered, to rest upon a stop-screw 34, which is adjustable along a line of tapped holes 35 in the gage-bar. While the feed-rolls are holding the pack as a whole, the leading portion of each ply is looped and then sprung back into the open clamp, so as to abut the struck-up templet portions 33 thereof, thereby employing said templet for gathering the sheets by their leading edges. The finger-piece is then depressed to grip the gathered or aligned top-edge portions of the pack, and, after releasing the feed-rolls, the templet with its clamp-device is slid upwardly to abut 100 an upper settable stop 36 upon the gage-bar, thereby straightening out the bulging portion of the pack, restoring the correct super-position or side-edge alignment or gathering of the plies, and positioning the written section to be severed, as shown in dot and dash, see Figure 3. By setting the stops 34 and 36 in the appropriate manner, the range of travel of the templet and clampdevice may be suited to diiferent lengths of forms, to render the gathering and severing operations convenient. Adjustability of the lower stop will permit a suitably bulged condition of the plies at the gathering operation.

It is noted that the jaws of the clamp are relatively wide, so as to accommodate the spaced templet portions 33 to facilitate the gathering or alignment of the top edges. Furthermore, there are struck from the lower jaw ears 3'7 backwardly to embrace the gage-bar 26, so as to aid in guiding the templet and clamp-device thereon. These ears, in order to fill a double purpose, are arranged to be flush with the lower edge of the body-portion, and so will prevent the plies from catching between the clamp and the templet gage-bar and promote quick and smooth operation.

Variations may be resorted to within the scope of the invention, and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: 130

1. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a revoluble platen around which may be fed a multiple-ply web composed of form-printed loose work-plies and carbon-plies,whereby successive forms may be manifolded and torn off from the work-webs, together with corresponding waste portions of the carbon-webs, an erect worktable at the delivery side of the platen, and releasable means for holding the composite web against the platen, of two-part means for regathering the disheveled work-plies after typing each form, one of said regathering parts being in the form of a transverse bar, and the other part being a sheet-templet; said templet being stationary and out of use during the entire operation of typing and line-spacing the web, and the web feeding up past said templet at the line-spacing operation; said transverse bar being above the platen and adjacent the upper end of the table, and. constraining the typed web to the table at bulged sheets in recovering their original flat condition, while engaging said templet, fall into lateral realignment with one another; means for clamping the sheets to the templet, a stafi up along which said templet may be moved away from said bar together with the clamped sheets, and an adjustable stop for said templet, said stop, said templet and said bar co-operating to measure the length of the typed web, and the bar also serving as a web-severing knife.

2. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a revoluble platen around which may be fed a multiple-ply web composed of form-printed loose work-plies and carbon-plies, whereby successive forms may be manifolded and torn off from the work-webs, the combination with a work-table at the delivery side of the platen, and releasable means for holding the composite web against the platen, of two-part means for regathering the disheveled work-plies after typing each form, one of said re-gathering parts being in the form of a transverse bar, and the other part being a sheet-templet; said transverse bar being well above the platen and constraining the typed web upon the table, to serve as a temporary support against which the leading portions of the typed plies may be bulged downwardly, and said re-gathering templet being spaced sufficiently near to the bar to co-operate therewith in bulging the sheets; whereby the bulged sheets in recovering their original fiat condition, fall into realignment with one another; a staff up along which said templet may be moved together with the sheets, and an adjustable stop for said templet; said stop and said templet and said bar 00- operating to measure the length of the typed form for severing.

3. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a revoluble platen around which may be fed a multiple-ply web composed of form-printed loose work-plies and carbon-plies, whereby successive forms may be manifolded and torn off from the work-webs, the combination with a worktable at the delivery side of the platen, and releasable means for holding the composite web against the platen, of two-part means for regathering the disheveled work-plies aftentyping each form, one of said re-gathering parts being in the form of a transverse bar, and the other part being a sheet-templet; said transverse bar being well above the platen and constraining the typed web upon the table, to serve as a temporary support against which the leading portions of the typed plies may be bulged downwardly, and said re-gathering templet being spaced sufiiciently near to the bar to co-operate therewith in bulging 130 the sheets; whereby the bulged sheets in recovering their original flat condition, fall into realignment with one another; a staff up along which said templet may be moved together with the sheets, an adjustable stop for said templet; 105 said stop and said templet and said bar eo-operating to measure the length of the typed form for severing, and adjustable means for supporting the templet at different sheet-re-gathering positions to accommodate various lengths of forms. 110

JESSE A. B. SMITH. 

